Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/710

 686 WISCONSIN cipal of the high school. By law of 1869 towns are authorized to adopt the township system of school government, under which each town becomes a school district. This system has been adopted by only a few towns. The school fund created by the constitution of 1848 com- prises: 1, the income from the proceeds of lands granted by the United States to the state for educational purposes ; 2, all moneys accru- ing from forfeiture or escheat ; 8, all tines col- lected in the several counties for breach of the penal laws ; 4, all moneys paid for exemption from military duty; 5, five per cent, on the sale of government lands. The first is the principal source. The whole amount of school and university lands held by the state on Sept. 30, 1875, was 1,622,642 acres, classified as fol- lows: school, 221,438; university, 4,407 ; nor- mal school, 612,774; drainage (held in trust for counties), 722,229 ; agricultural college, 52,404 ; Marathon county, 9,890. The amounts of the various funds for educational purposes at that date were as follows : FUNDS. Productive. UnprodutllT*. School f-j.fiS4.ai $860,000 University 222,256 9,000 Normal school 976,864 783.000 Agricultural college 2)6.184 63.000 Drainage 12,648 M6 Total . . . S4.071.686 ItM&OM The unproductive funds consist of unsold lands held in trust by the state ; the amounts above given are estimated. The income of the school fund during the year ending Sept. 80, 1875, amounted to $186,409, and the disbursements to $185,961. In 1874-'o the total number of children in the state over 4 and under 20 years of age was 461,829; the total number of per- sons receiving instruction was 293,888, viz. : in the public schools, 279,854 ; private schools, 10,733; colleges and academies, 2,150; bene- volent institutions, 1,150. There were 5,489 school districts and 5, 197 school houses, valued with sites and apparatus at $4,979,169, and hav- ing accommodations for 830,189 pupils. The total number of graded schools in the state was about 400. During the year there were 816,097 school days in the public schools; the number of teachers required was 6,224 ; 9,455 different teachers were employed. The total amount expended for schools was $2,065,870, including $1,850,784 for teachers' wages. In 1865 the legislature set apart certain lands for the creation of a fund for the establishment and maintenance of normal schools. This fund amounted on Sept. 80, 1875, to $976,364, and the total income, including tuition fees of three schools, to $75,994. A board of regents of the normal schools was incorporated by the legislature in 1866, and since that date four state normal schools have been opened. Their condition in 1875-'6 was as follows : WHERE SITUATED. Vh,-n opuud. ToUl number of initrut-toit. PUPILS. Totml. In normal depirlmout. Platteville Whitewater OMikosh 1866 Mis 1871 1875 10 19 10 10 456 400 DM 430 200 MM 821 IM River Falls .... The law providing for the establishment of these schools declares that tbeir purpose shall be, besides training teachers, " to give instruc- tion in agriculture, chemistry, the arts of hus- bandry, the mechanic arts, the fundamental laws of the United States and this state, and in what regards the rights and duties of citi- zens." An elementary course of two years and an advanced course of four years (inclu- ding the two years' course) have been pre- scribed for each of the state normal schools. On the completion of the four years' course a diploma is awarded by the board of regents, which exempts the holder from examination as a teacher in the common schools of the state. Each assembly district in the state is entitled to send to any one of the normal schools six students, to whom no charge will be made for tuition. The appointments are made by the county and city superintendents. The board of regents are authorized to expend $5,000 annually for the support of teachers' institutes. In 1874-'5, 57 institutes were held in 44 coun- ties, and were attended by 8,760 teachers and persons desiring to teach. The colleges and universities of the state in 1875-'6 were : NAME OF INSTITUTION. Wbn Wb* tltoctad. Drnominttlcn. DtpwtmraU or conrM. Number of Initructora. Pupili ! eoll*glU I. j.'IrllM'nl. Puplli la all dfprtii]nU. Belolt college 1S47 Belolt Congregational and Oalesville university 1MB Gales vine Presbyterian Methodist Episcopal. Preparatory and collegiate Preparatory and collegiate 10 A 84 29 194 185t Lawrence university 1849 ADI ile ton. . . Preparatory, academic, and 18 102 888 Milton college 1S67* Milton. Seventh-day Baptist. Preparatory and collegiate 9 82 270 Northwestern university. Pio Nono college and normal school 1864 1871 Watertown St. Francis Station Lutheran Roman Catholic Academic and collegiate. . Collegiate and normal 8 8 44 210 105 Racine college 1852 Racine. . . Episcopal Letters, science, and gram- 00 1S7 Ripon college 1868 Ripon .... Congregational Collegiate and preparatory 18 69 858 St. John's college 1865 Prairie da Chien... Roman Catholic Collegiate and preparatory 14 80 150 University of Wisconsin. 1860 Madison Not denominational. Collegiate and others 27 845 1 1874-'5.
 * Opened as an academy, 1844.